Shadow Correspondent
Jammu, JUNE, 26
The Central working Committee of Dogra Sadar Sabha, J&K (DSS) met on 26 June 2019 to consider various problems facing Jammu region. After exposing the ill conceived scheme of Set Top Boxes, President DSS and former minister apprised that DD Kendra Jammu was no gift to the region but forced upon by circumstances. As a consequence of outburst of insurgency in Kashmir Valley in 1989 the DD news came on the focus of terrorists who wanted to blackout this source of news emanating from the Valley, then under Seize by terrorists. The then Director DD Kashmir Lassa Kaul was brutally murdered by terrorists. The news unit of DD Kashmir was thus shifted to Jammu in March 1990 and functioned from a make shift Studio at Hotel Jammu Ashok. The present DD Jammu came into being in September 1993 with bare minimum infrastructure as PGF for 30 minutes telecast which gradually developed to 4 hours. It catered for pogrammes in Dogri, Urdu, Gojri and Pahari which were liked and well received by public throughout Jammu region. The regional DD Jammu news started in July 1999 like a full-fledged centre after the location was identified.
However, old staff has retired without replacement and no fresh recruitment of artists, technicians or supporting programmers, producers, administrative staff has been made. Incapable, ill-equipped and understaffed but are keeping the units going by re-telecasting old filed programmes of 3/ 4 years vintage.
Likewise the AIR Kendra Jammu, still called “Radio Kashmir Jammu” is not functioning as a AIR Station of a Capital city. It is headless with no Director for the last many years and continues to be discriminated by the authorities. Final nail in the coffin of AIR Jammu seems to have been put by shifting of Dogri news Bulletin from AIR Delhi to Jammu along with the news readers. This has not been done with any other regional language broadcast from AIR Delhi.
The efficacy of LoC & IB areas to counter Pakistani propaganda is only possible when programmes in local spoken languages (Dogri, Mojri, Pahari, Punjabi & Urdu) are telecasted/ broadcasted. Or else Border viewer/ AIR listeners will continue to tune in Pakistani propoganda in their own languages and even get these reproduced on their free Set of Boxes through cable operators.
There is need to launch full satellite connected strong DD and AIR Jammu Kendras with designated Duggar Channels producing programmes in Dogri, Urdu, Gojri and Punjabi on 24×7 basis much bigger than DD Kashmir’s Kashir Channel and Radio Kashmir, which have to target limited 28% Kashmiri speaking geographical areas that too very thinly populated in Valley along LoC.
The Prasar Bharti had deliberated and agreed for it in January 2015 when president DSS, Th. Gulchain Singh Charak established contacts in New Delhi for the purpose, but the case went into cold storage and NOT pursued at government level, where it rests till today.
DDK Jammu needs reallocation for commission of programmes and CBR of Rs 3 Cr which has ceased for the last four years now scuttling programming activities of private producers, directors, writers, technicians and artists. Present budget of programming is Rs 50 Lakh only as against more than Rs. 100 Crores for Kashir channel that has no relevance for more than 80 % of the population for which it was ill-conceived, ill- designed and vainly funded for. The proposed Duggar Channel of DD Jammu should be brought on satellite to become effective either side of LoC/IB besides vast Jammu border region. The whole area both sides relishes Dogri, Gojri, Pahari, Punjabi and Urdu and need programmes from these languages and landscape, culture, heritage and folk. They like to see local known and popular faces and voices of artists. Eight programme officers have retired without replacement leaving the DD Jammu Kendra defunct under two camera men. The matter needs immediate concern and speedy implementation before the massive GoI initiative on Set Top Boxes goes haywire; insisted the former minister.
Counseling for NEET aspirants starts on 27 June 2019 without the J&K government orders on EWS quota announced. “This is outright failure of the Medical Health education department/ BOPEE denying economically poor J&K students a facility announced, declared and provided for by the central government with full fan fare, applauded in the nation and used popularlyby BJP for vote earning” said the former minister. On contact, The Under Secretary in Jammu BOPEE office Ms Surbhi Raina expressed her helplessness in absence of government orders; although the scheme is extended to J&K Government, number of seats
allocated and locally sub allotted with usual bias and discrimination against Jammu region; that needs a rethinking.
Th. Gulchain Singh Charak travelled extensively along the NH, Dhar Road and visited villages like Jakhanu, Disian etc in Tehsil Majalta famous Mansar Lake. He found the main road in horrible state of poor maintenance with craters like pits shaking life out of healthy commuters. Transporting patients/ old and weak is a nightmare and making tourism most discouraging if not forbidding. Villages only a few kilometers from the highway are connected by uneven mud roads, no bridges over seasonal nullahs forcing one to be on the fours on the steep gradients in the rural areas between Jakhenu to Majalta in Distt Udhampur. The electric transformers were seen burnt awaiting replacement. A sixty men strong delegation of villagers from these areas came to DSS office at Dogra Bhawan with scores of unsolved problems and no one to listen to them. The highway requires immediate attention on war footing in view of impending Amarnath Yatra. There is a requirement of making adequate arrangements for the Yatris to be taken to alternate places of pilgrimage like Purmandal / Utterbehni whenever the highway gets closed due to hostile whether giving up opportunity to the visitors to visit such places in Jammu region.
The meeting was deliberated upon by Prof. N. K. Dogra, Col. Karan Singh Jamwal, Sh. Prem Sagar Gupta, Gambhir Dev Singh Charak, Brig M. S. Jamwal, Col. Dr Virendra K. Sahi,VrC, Amanat Ali Shah, Maj. Gen. Mrs. Sunita Kapoor (Retd) VSM, Chhankar Singh, Janak Khajuria, Madan Rangeela, Sandesh Veer, Balbir Singh Saini, Jagdish Raj, Dr. Raghubir Singh, G.A Khwaja, Mangal Dass Dogra, S. Kulbir Singh and a delegation of more than sixty Sabha members from Tehsil Majalta.
The president DSS noted with concern the news appeared in some sections of the press that there are 84,000 posts of central Armed Police Forces (CAPFs) vacant and pointed out that there are more than 80,000 ex-servicemen from defence forces in J&K alone, about half of them are young. They are trained, loyal and trustworthy. Besides there is enough youth material in border villages which can be employed by special recruitment drives. He urged the Hon’ble Governor and the visiting Home Minister Sh. Amit Shah to explore the possibilities with GoI to avail this opportunity that may solve many problems of unemployment and engaging the J&K youth in useful, disciplined national activity and save them from going haywire.
